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2026 Tennessee football schedule, opponents, game dates
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- 2026 Tennessee football schedule, opponents, game dates
2026 will mark the third season with 16 SEC teams after Oklahoma and Texas became league members in 2024.
Each league school will have three permanent opponents and six rotating opponents for the next four years. Beginning in 2026, Tennessee will play Alabama , Kentucky and Vanderbilt as permanent opponents .
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"I do think rivalries matter," Tennessee head coach Josh Heupel said regarding future scheduling. "It's a part of the tradition of this game. Fan bases, you know, pointing to those football games, I hadn't heard about that report. I know that the league, that's something that they've, you know, it's been important to them to try to protect some of those special games for universities and their fan bases."
Tennessee's entire 2026 regular-season football schedule, opponents and game dates are listed below.
2026 Tennessee football schedule, opponents, game dates
| Date |
Opponent |
| Sept. 5 |
Furman (Knoxville, Tennessee) |
| Sept. 12 |
Georgia Tech (Atlanta, Georgia) |
| Sept. 19 |
Kennesaw State (Knoxville, Tennessee) |
| Sept. 26 |
Texas (Knoxville, Tennessee) |
| Oct. 3 |
Auburn (Knoxville, Tennessee) |
| Oct. 10 |
Arkansas (Fayetteville, Arkansas) |
| Oct. 17 |
Alabama (Knoxville, Tennessee) |
| Oct. 24 |
South Carolina (Columbia, South Carolina) |
| Oct. 31 |
Open date |
| Nov. 7 |
Kentucky (Knoxville, Tennessee) |
| Nov. 14 |
Texas A&M (College Station, Texas) |
| Nov. 21 |
LSU (Knoxville, Tennessee) |
| Nov. 28 |
Vanderbilt (Nashville, Tennessee) |
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This article originally appeared on Vols Wire: 2026 Tennessee Vols football schedule
